by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“… ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.'”
Catholic TV Mass for the Memorial of Saint Martha, Saturday, July 29, 2017, from Our Lady of Loretto Abbey in Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]
“… Martha said to Him,
‘I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
‘I AM the Resurrection and the Life;
whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God,
the One who is coming into the world.'”
Catholic TV Mass for Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2017, from Our Lady of Loretto Abbey in Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]
“… Archbishop Sheen identifies three characteristics of the diabolic … examining the story of the Gerasene demoniac … Love of Nudity … Violence … Division (split personalities, disjointed minds) … these three characteristics of the diabolic are alive and flourishing in the modern world …. * * * 1. Love of Nudity … Pornography … The overall sexualization of our culture … the utter confusion that celebrates homosexual activity. … as a result of this celebration of darkness and confusion, the even more deeply confused notion of ‘transgenderism’ has taken root. * * * 2. Violence … turn[ing] violence into a form of entertainment. … violent retribution into fun and death [as] a ‘solution.’ * * * … the culture of death. … Violence begins in the womb as the innocent are attacked as we defend ‘choice’ and ‘rights.’ … * * * 3. Division – Satan loves to divide. Archbishop Sheen says that the word ‘diabolic’ comes from two Greek words, dia and ballein, meaning ‘to tear apart.’ Most literally, dia means ‘through’ or ‘between’ and ballein means ‘to throw or to cast.’ * * * Our families are broken. * * * Inwardly, we struggle with many divisive drives … drawn to what is good, true, and beautiful and yet at the same time to what is base, false, and evil. …”
Catholic TV Mass for Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2017, from Catholic TV in Boston. [Click here for Mass Readings]
“‘… The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.'”
“No sooner had God seen the world overcome with fear than He set His Love to work to call it back to Himself, His Grace to invite it and His Affection to embrace it. … Through all these events the Flame of Divine Charity consumed men’s hearts … and they, their hearts wounded, began to desire to see God with the eyes of their flesh … Love cannot accept not to see what it loves. Did not all the Saints consider of little worth everything they gained while they were not beholding God … ? Let no one think, therefore, that God was mistaken in coming to men through a man. He took Flesh amongst us that He might be seen by us.”
Catholic TV Mass for Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2017, from Catholic TV in Boston. [Click here for Mass Readings]
Catholic TV Mass for Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2017, from Our Lady of Loretto Abbey in Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]